Wednesday, November 30, 2016

First of all, thank you so much to all of you who voted in our contest with SoFi! We were one of the 5 runners up and won $10,000! What a fantastic prize and amazing blessing! We are so grateful to all of you who voted and shared :).

We had a great Thanksgiving weekend staying with Christi's parents in Ferron, UT. It's about a two and a half hour drive for us. We headed down there Thanksgiving morning and joined up with many siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles and friends. Her parents hosted about 35 people for Thanksgiving Dinner in their home! Great sports :). About 20 of those family members stayed overnight the next two nights as well. It's so great to get together with family. It's particularly fun to see the young cousins having so much fun together.

As I reflect on Thanksgiving, there are so many things I'm thankful for. Here's a short list of some of the things that come to mind off of the top of my head:

Christi, Cali, Conner, Elli, Graci, Jesi, Lexi, Sophi, Parker, Taylor, Xander (Xander, if you're reading this, I listed our kids alphabetically ;), the gospel, our home, extended family, college football, hammocks, mountains, good physical health, a good job, a great country to live in, adoption, good doctors, and so much more. I'm grateful to have my wonderful family surrounding me during this holiday season. They're the best!

Here are some pics from our weekend in Ferron. I kind of got into hammocks this summer during some off our campouts. With some guidance from a friend, I even learned how to make them a cozy place to sleep in 20 degree weather! Christi and I slept in them while we were in Ferron:).

Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Thanks to Jon Hasebi and the team at Citywide Mortgage, our family was able to go see Fantastic Beasts and Where to find them...for free! Taylor, Parker, Lexi, Jesi, Xander, Cali, Conner, Christi and I went. It was a fun show for all of these Harry Potter fans :). (Notice that Parker positioned himself next to the cutie in the pink coat in the first pic. We made him take up a close up after. You can see from his face he wasn't too distraught at the prospect ;)

Friday, November 11, 2016

LAST DAY TO VOTE!!! So... we've been checking out the page views for the other videos in the Social Finance Inc, contest and we are about 600 behind first place. That's a lot of views! And yet, if we could find 100 people to each get 10 people to vote, that's 1,000 votes! We could do this-- we could win $150,000! Remember, voting only takes 1-2 minutes, and if everyone in your family votes that makes it so much better!!! It's crazy to be just a few hundred votes away from such an amazing prize! (:

:Again, our goal for today is 1,000 votes-- can you help us reach it? One of the best ways is to have everyone in your family vote and then share! Or perhaps you know someone with a big following that would share this for us. We'd love if you comment here after you vote so we can show our kids. They have been having so much fun with this! We are so grateful for such great friends and that tomorrow, we can stop bugging you.! (: (: (:

Click HERE to vote. After you vote, they will send you a confirmation email and you have to verify it in order for your vote to count. But no worries, you will not be on their email list unless you check the box to do so.

Friday, November 4, 2016

Christi is out of town for the weekend so I got the kids off to school on my own this morning. Well, I did have some very valuable help! Jessica did Sophi's and Lexi's hair :). (Thank heavens!) As I was getting the little girls' shoes and socks on before driving them to the elementary, Sophi asked for me to pack her a snack "like mom always does." Lexi wanted one, too.

Me: "What do you want."
Lexi: "Some of the mint oreos."
Me: "Those are all gone."
Lexi: "But you said you would pack them for my snack yesterday and you forgot!"
Me: "Sorry. I'm a terrible father."
Lexi: "But you're not like Snape, though."

So what exactly does that mean? Yes, Dad, you're a terrible father, but you could be worse if you wore a black dress, had greasy hair and intentionally made my life as miserable as possible at every opportunity. Thanks for the vote of confidence, Lex ;)

When we fell in love 20 years ago, we started down a path that has been challenging, exhausting, and breathtakingly beautiful. Here we chronicle the blessings and stressings of parenting some pretty amazing children. We think they're the perfect travel companions as we look forward to the next fork in the road. Welcome to our journey.

Jeremy and Christianne

Taylor Jeremy--18

Parker Matthew--17

The red-headed social butterfly, he's our all-star athlete, top student, outdoor-loving, spunky second-born, with a heart of pure gold!

Jessica Anne "Jesi"--14

Our little princess with the big smile, Jesi loves fashion, friends, hanging with her siblings, and vacations. She sparkles!

Jacob Michael-- 6/8/2004

Little one of heavenly birth, born too soon to bloom on earth. You have taught us so much--we love you, Jacob!

Emily Anne "Emmy"--9/28/2005

Emily's exquisite little hands and feet have left their mark in this world. Her body was tiny, but her spirit enormous. We miss her!

Elizabeth Mei "Elli"--13

Elli's world may be dark, but she's the light of our lives! Lover of music, chocolate, and new toys, she fights a courageous battle with autism while bringing joy to all who know her!!

Gracelin Kate "Graci"--19

Showing true grace throughout her battles with heart disease and pulmonary hypertension, our Gracester is loved by everyone! She's smart, gorgeous, friendly, and has faith to move mountains!

Alexander Philip "Xander"--12

With a spunk and smile that could outmatch anyone's, our Xander has not let Cloves Syndrome get the best of him. He's a talented chef, a caring friend to MANY, our best helper, and is full of teenage humor.

Alexis Li "Lexi"--13

Meet the friendliest girl on the planet! Blind from birth, Lexi amazes all of us with her braille skills, determination, talents, but mosly by the way she spends her days SMILING. She is an angel in every way. We are thrilled to have our darling daughter home six years from China!!

Sophia Breanne "Sophi"--9

Her eyes called out to us from half-way around the world. Little Sophi is growing up and we would do anything to freeze her in time! She's beautiful, smart, and coy and can do amazing things with her toes! She has inspired people all around the world and we can't believe she is ours. Sophi = perfection.

Calais Rose "Cali"--17

Charming Cali joined our family in December of 2012. This girl is beautiful both inside and out. Born with spina bifida, Cali is confined to a wheelchair, but that does not keep her from enjoying life to the fullest. She is smart, opinionated, strong, and lovely in every way. She is a light in our family and a magnet for handsome young men!

Conner Allen-- 17

Meet our newest addition! Home three years from China, Conner makes us wonder what we ever did without him. Blind from birth, he will blow you away with his incredible talent on the piano. He is sweet, witty, girl-crazy, kind and finally, OURS! We love you, Conner!

The Dog

Baxter-- 6 months

She begged and pleaded and wrote letter after letter telling us why she NEEDED a dog, and Sophi finally got her wish! Meet Baxter, the cutest mini-audssiedoodle on the planet.